Hypercapitalism

A speculative purchase that was illuminating and disturbing in equal measures. Vaccari is an author with potential, but I sensed he was trying too hard in this collection of short stories. For context, Wanton Sun is a small publishing house run by Simon Sellers, an Australian with an interest in J.G. Ballard (Sellers compiled Extreme Metaphors). He clearly sees Vaccari as a possible heir to Ballard, and Hypercapitalism is filled with many Ballardian tropes, especially entropy, violence and the effects of materialism. It's reasonable to wonder what Ballard would have made of AI and avatars, but to try to imitate him is foolish, and especially when done somewhat crudely. Much of Hypercapitalism, I sensed, was about creating shock or titillation rather than developing truly original content/narrative. Vaccari might be better off acknowledging the influence of Ballard, using this as a foundation and then moving on. The work will go to the charity shop. Among the stories in the collection, the one that gives its name to the title was probably the best, as much as anything owing to its length. Five out of ten.

By Andrés Vaccari